In a thrilling encounter at Mullanpur, the Gujarat Titans secured a narrow 3-wicket victory over the Punjab Kings. Despite some jitters in the middle overs, Gujarat's chase was steered home by a brilliant partnership between Shahrukh Khan and Rahul Tewatia, marking their return to winning ways.
Had the Kings managed a stronger showing in the middle of their innings and reached a score closer to 160, it might have been a different story. However, their batting woes continued, resulting in a fourth consecutive home defeat and leaving them languishing at the bottom of the table.
The spinners played a pivotal role in the match, dismantling Punjab's batting line-up and restricting them to a meagre 142 all out in 20 overs. This set a target of just 143 for Gujarat. Notably, Punjab's dismissal on the final ball capped off a dominant bowling performance by the Titans. While the venue has traditionally favoured pace bowlers, with spinners only taking nine wickets in the previous four games, Gujarat's trio of slow bowlers defied expectations, capturing seven of the ten wickets.
Opting to bat first after winning the toss at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in Mohali, the Punjab Kings were without their captain Shikhar Dhawan due to injury.
Here are the key moments of the match.
1st Innings:
• Sam Curran and Prabhsimran Singh opened for PBKS.
• Sandeep to Prabhsimran: Four runs, the first boundary of the innings.
• Prabhsimran hits a six off a no-ball. PBKS 19/0 after 1.6 overs.
• Mohit Sharma to Prabhsimran Singh, out! PBKS 52/1 after 5.3 overs.
• Noor Ahmad dismisses Rilee Rossouw. PBKS 63/2 after 6.6 overs.
• Rashid Khan to Sam Curran: LBW and out! PBKS 67/3 after 7.5 overs.
• Noor Ahmad dismisses Liam Livingstone. PBKS 78/4 after 10.2 overs.
• Sai Kishore sends Jitesh Sharma to the pavilion. PBKS 86/5 after 11.4 overs.
• Sai Kishore dismisses Ashutosh Sharma. PBKS 92/6 after 13.5 overs.
• Shahrukh Khan traps Harpreet Singh LBW, but DRS saves him! Another overturned decision!
• Sai Kishore dismisses Shashank Singh. PBKS 99/7 after 15.2 overs.
• Sai Kishore dismisses Harpreet Brar. PBKS 139/8 after 18.6 overs.
• Mohit Sharma to Harshal Patel, out! Caught by Shahrukh! PBKS 140/9 after 19.2 overs.
• Mohit Sharma to Harpreet Singh, run out! The first innings wraps up. PBKS 142/10 after 19.6 overs.
2nd Innings:
• The first four of the second innings, GT 6/1 after 0.5 overs.
• Gill and Saha hit several fours, entertaining the stadium.
• Arshdeep Singh to Wriddhiman Saha: First wicket down for Gujarat. GT 25/1 after 3.4 overs.
• Livingstone dismisses Gill! Rabada comfortably catches the shot at long-off. GT 66/2 after 9.3 overs.
• Miller falls to Livingstone! Timber! GT 77/3 after 11.5 overs.
• Harpreet Brar to Azmatullah: Six runs. The first six for the Titans. GT 86/3 after 12.5 overs.
• Sam Curran dismisses B Sai Sudharsan. GT 97/4 after 14.4 overs.
• Azmatullah Omarzai departs off Harshal Patel's delivery. GT 103/5 after 15.2 overs.
• Shahrukh Khan is sent to the pavilion. GT 138/6 after 18.1 overs.
• Harshal Patel dismisses Rashid Khan. GT 142/7 after 18.6 overs.
• Gujarat Titans win by three wickets! GT 146/7 after 19.1 overs.
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